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User
Reviews 22
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Last Active 01-02-23 7:35 am
Joined 03-29-10
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| Fantasy Books Appreciation Thread
I love fantasy novels and series. I think I've read enough to get a clear picture of the current landscape and boy, is it a good time to be alive as a fantasy fan. The books have gotten more mature and the classic fantasy tropes are mostly done with. List is the series I read and my ratings for it. | | 1 |  | Blind Guardian
Nightfall in Middle-Earth
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy + The Hobbit
The godfather of modern fantasy. If it wasn't for Tolkien, we wouldn't have fantasy (in modern media in general) as we know it today. A timeless classic that is slow to get outdated, though I recently reread it and found it not as good as I remember it being when I first read it. Nevertheless, it is timeless and imo any fantasy enthousiast should at least have read it once, to understand the roots of the genre and to appreciate how far we have come since then. | | 2 |  | Ramin Djawadi
Game of Thrones: Season 1
George R.R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire (5 of 7 books published)
Famed for the t.v. adaptation by HBO under the name 'Game of Thrones', Martin's books are not for everyone, but I found in them something I haven't had with any other series, except maybe for Erikson's work (more on that later), which is a gritty realness. The characters make decisions that make sense, every single character is morally grey, and no one is safe. It throws most fantasy tropes out of the window and sees their characters go through hell to leave you at the edge of your seat. The fourth and fifth books have some dip in quality, but they are nevertheless entertaining reads. George is a master of foreshadowing which makes rereading the books very satisfying. 9/10 | | 3 |  | John Williams
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.K. Rowling - The Harry Potter Series (7 books published)
Harry Potter is basicly my childhood. Growing up with Rowlings books with the books getting more mature while I was also getting more mature, they felt like they were written specifically for my generation. It is still my happy place to go to when I want to read something light and it makes me feel like reaquanting with an old friend. The amount of details that the first books give that have significant meaning later on in the series can still baffle me, like Rowling new exactly where she was going with the series. If you haven't read it yet, get on it asap. 9.5/10 | | 4 |  | The Black Piper
The Kaladin Album
Brandon Sanderson - The Stormlight Archive (3 of 10 books published)
Yes, I am putting a far from complete series on this list and give you something more besides: Out of all the fantasy I've read, these three books are the best books I have ever read. The sheer amount of ingenuity, from the world building to the magic system, are incredible. They are big tomes (all three around a thousand pages each), and can be slow at points, but the way Sanderson writes makes me invested in every moment and doesn't bore me for a second. Every book has what fans have started to call the 'Sanderson Avalanche'. When the book gets rolling in the second half, it doesn't stop but built to a climax that never dissapoints. Sanderson is an outlier, which means that every detail in the book has meaning and he knows exactly how everything fits into place. A modern marvel of storytelling. Note: Sanderson writes fast as far as writers go. He is currently working on book 4 which will come out mid 2020. 10/10 | | 5 |  | Robert Berry
A Soundtrack for The Wheel of Time
Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time Series (15 books published)
The biggest series on this list as far as wordcount goes (along with Terry Pratchett's Discworld), Jordan's The Wheel of Time series is in the works as a tv series adaptation as we speak. The story of Rand Al'Tor took me years to finish. Yet once I got really invested in it I finished it in about a year. It is pretty classic fantasy (good vs. evil, farmboy becoming the chosen one) but done in a way that is much more interesting than its promise would suggest. Books 7-10 were a lot less good in quality, but with the help of Brandon Sanderson to finish the series after Jordan's death, it got a fantastic ending worthy of the biggest fantasy series in history. 7.5/10 | | 6 |  | Caladan Brood
Echoes Of Battle
Steven Erikson - The Malazan Book of the Fallen (10 books published with numerous novella's and standalone books in the same universe)
This is one for the truly dedicated. It is by far the most complex and intricate series I've read. Erikson plunges you into a world in the middle of big events and doesn't explain how it all fits together. You have to piece this together yourself bit by bit as you get driples of information. Yet once you get invested it is one of the most staggering and satisfying military fantasy out there. The books are graphic and the Malazan world could compete with Westeros as the most brutal place in fantasy and the place I would least like to live in. I'm currently at book 6 and so far the quality has been very constant. 9/10 | | 7 |  | Fleshgod Apocalypse
King
Patrick Rothfuss - The Kingkiller Cronicles (2 of 3 books published)
The tale of Kvothe is a fantastic, though linear read that is basicly one big adventure story that is parts Lord of the Rings, parts Harry Potter and parts Indiana Jones in a fantasy world. It is a whole lot of fun and Rothfuss' prose is excelent. Seldom have I been more enraged by a person as with Embrose, or have I been laughing so hard as with Elodin. Yet only two books of the trilogy have been written, with fans waiting as long for part three as people have been waiting on The Winds of Winter. 8.5/10 | | 8 |  | John Abercrombie
The Third Quartet
Joe Abercrombie - The First Law Trilogy (3 books and 3 standalone books released)
I've only read the trilogy and really enjoyed it. It is not the best I've read, but I really enjoyed the characters (more so than I did the plot), which made me keep reading. They are gritty, military fantasy in the veign of Martin and Erikson. Our main three POV characters are really interesting and well fleshed out, and make decisions that are reasonable and believable. 7.5/10 | | 9 |  | Dave Greenslade
The Pentateuch Of The Cosmogony
Terry Pratchett - Discworld Series (41 novels)
Absurdist high fantasy. Pratchett's books are a delight to read, first and foremost because of how funny they are. The amount of times I've laughed out loud reading these books have been countless. I surely haven't read them all, and since they are pretty much all standalone novels I suggest not starting with the first couple of books. 7.5/10 | | 10 |  | Mist
Mist
Brandon Sanderson - The Mistborn Series (7 of ? published)
The second Cosmere series by Sanderson on this list. It is set in the same universe as the Stormlight Archive, but on a different planet. It is a completely seperate series that has ties with Stormlight only behind the scenes. Because of this, you can read the different series separately without any prior knowledge. The first Mistborn Trilogy is a really great tale of the fall of a dark empire and the final war for freedom. It has twists and turns in every way, and even in the last page everything can get turned upside down to leave you baffled in awe. The second series takes place 300 years after the events of the first trilogy, which are set in a more western era. Definately worth your time! 9/10 | | 11 |  | The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls
Jim Butcher - The Dresden Files (15 standalone novels)
Detective fantasy that is seen as pretty pulpy, but are very enjoyable nonetheless. Think CSI with a wizard PI as protagonist. The stories are fun and often unpredictable. The first ones are enjoyable, but from book 3 onward the series really gets going with every book becoming better than the one before it. Its easy reading and linear which can be a breath of fresh air between the complex and intricate storylines of some of the other series on this list. 7.5/10 | | 12 |  | Alexandre Desplat
The Golden Compass OST
Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials (3 books published)
Most famous for the failed movie adaptation (The Golden Compass flopped and the sequals never got made) the books are actually quite enjoyable, if a bit to much on the young-adult side for me. The tale of Lyra and her Daemon Pan is quite ingenius at points and I really like the Scandinavian influences in it. 7/10 | | 13 |  | Counting Crows
New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall 2003
Leigh Bardugo - Six of Crows (Trilogy + duology)
I've just started the trilogy and actually began reading with the duology (Six of Crows 1+2), but holy crap where they great reads. Set in a fantasy Amsterdam, it tells the heist story of six kids basicly. Its gritty, fast paced and incredibly thrilling. Can't wait to see if the trilogy is as good as Six of Crows. 9/10 | | 14 |  | Disney
Classic Disney Volume 1
Lloyd Alexander - The Chronicles of Prydain (5 books published)
Often overlooked (case and point: I completely forgot about these when initially creating this list). Disney adapted the first story 'The Black Cauldron' and made a subpar animated movie about it. Yet the books themselves where the first to kindly my interest in medieval fantasy. I read these when I was about 10 years old, and remember them very fondly. Built on Welsh folklore, the story of Taran is epic and interesting, and I remember the climax being especially exhilarating. 7.5/10 | | 15 |  | Children of Bodom
Follow the Reaper
Neal Shusterman - Arc of a Scythe (2 of 3 books published)
The best books I read in 2019 so far. I don't know if this actually counts as fantasy but I'm including it anyway just because of how great these books are. The story of a world in which science has been completed and the only way people die is when they get killed by 'scythes' is fascinating, and the story that follows is amazing, full of plot twists and tense moments. Can't wait for the final book in the series! 9/10 | |
Scheumke
05.18.19 | I've read more and will keep adding when I remember what I've read lol. | zakalwe
05.18.19 | Logen Ninefingers from 8 would have the others for brekkie. | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Ha, than you haven't met Anomander Rake yet ;) | theBoneyKing
05.18.19 | Haven’t read 2 or 9, love the others.
| Sinternet
05.18.19 | the best tolkien book is children of hurin so if you haven't make sure to check it
pratchett is my dad's favourite author so I've read a fair few, he had such an elegant grasp of language and wit | Scheumke
05.18.19 | added the Dresden Files | theBoneyKing
05.18.19 | The posthumous Tolkien books are all pretty boring imo | theBoneyKing
05.18.19 | Gentlemen Bastards is a great series too. | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Gentlemen Bastards is on my shortlist so will get down to it eventually. Same with Robin Hobb's books. I own Children of Hurin but have never read it. Maybe I will! | theBoneyKing
05.18.19 | Malazan is amazing, it drops off a bit towards the end but it’s a great ride. | Rik VII
05.18.19 | 4 all the way. I actually met Brandon a few days ago. | kalkwiese
05.18.19 | I love Discworld, but the books weren't awesome from the start imo. Pratchett made a lot of gold there though | Scheumke
05.18.19 | @RikRoach7: I'm jealous as fuck my man!! My bookcase has a big white row of Sanderson books and I'm pretty much devouring every single thing the guy writes. Read Skyward last year in about a day and a half, another amazing addition to his work.
@theBoneyKing: You actually finished it. Props to you man, thats one though job. I will finish it eventually, but at times I feel I'm just not in the right mindset for it. It is very rewarding though, once you really get into it. | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Added His Dark Materials and Six of Crows | Taxt
05.18.19 | I finished Malazan this year, took fucking forever and I have some minor gripes, but all in all it's a pretty incredible series. | Lord(e)Po)))ts
05.18.19 | NNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRREERRDDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS | Trophycase
05.18.19 | Literally just saw a trailer for HBO picking up an adaptation of "His Dark Materials" today. Also I recently re-read the Eragon books and they were amazing | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Never read Eragorn, though my gf did and we own the books.
Btw I won't include series I don't like/have no intend to finish so everything on this list is worth your time imo. I will also not add the YA fantasy that I've read, like Twilight, Maze Runner, Hunger games, The Reckoners and Divergent. Mostly because most of them are not very good, but also because its too much of a different genre for me | kalkwiese
05.18.19 | I don't think Eragon was amazing tbh. Not offensively bad, but just not up there. It was years ago, I can't exactly remember everything, but
1) it's kinda Star Wars with dragons
2) the villain has a name like an asterix character lol
3) the characters became so mighty it got weird (don't want to spoiler too much)
4) it's kinda lacking stylewise
Not every story is for everyone of course and many people do like the series, but I just don't get why | Rik VII
05.18.19 | @Scheumke: Been a fan of him for 10 years now (starting with Final Empire), so it was a huge thing for me ... I also made a Cosmere spoiler talk list a while ago, which I hope will see a renaissance once book 4 comes in | Scheumke
05.18.19 | I'll check it out! Love the Cosmere fantheories and spoilers.
Added The Chronicles of Prydain | hal1ax
05.18.19 | 7 is best. rothfuss' writing is my favorite of the bunch for sure plus i think kingkiller has the best magic system. | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Oeh I could do a whole new list ranking the magic systems. Kingkiller is up there, but for me I think Mistborn takes the spot there, with Harry Potter, Kingkiller and Stormlight coming in quickly behind that. | budgie
05.18.19 | really bummed now to see robert e howard's conan stories on this list | Scheumke
05.18.19 | Never read them budgie. Are they any good (I guess so if you name them). Sell 'em to me if you will. | budgie
05.18.19 | they're awesome, dude. he was a contemporary with lovecraft (so most his material is public domain? you can just download it from gutenberg) but the stories are low fantasy in style, with barbarian kingdoms and stygian desert-dewlling snake-worshipping blasphemers and cryptic tombs and dungeons full of terrible horrors. in some ways there's maybe a sort of elder-god vibe from lovecraft mixed with the ancient fantasy world of tolkien. | BerryGarlicia
05.18.19 | Arc of a scythe is good
I used to love fantasy books but I’ve grown into sci-fi as of late, brave new world, 1984 | Scheumke
05.18.19 | @budgie: I love Lovecraft, have his big fat collected works and read a story out of it from time to time. I'll take a look at them, thanks for the rec.
@Berry: If you like sci-fi and Arc of a Scythe, go read Skyward. Great read! | Rik VII
05.18.19 | As for sci-fi, reading Asimov's Foundation trilogy was a blast! | CosmicPie
05.18.19 | I'm only 50 pages in The Blade Itself by Abercrombie, and I'm already reeled in. The guy's got a great writing style, and he paints his characters really well. And of course I love the gritty dark humor. | CosmicPie
05.18.19 | Man, the way you describe Sanderson's Stormlight. And of course, this isn't the first time I've heard how monumental his writing is, and how he may turn out to be the best of all time. But still, it further verifies that claim, and that I need to get on it. | BerryGarlicia
05.18.19 | I also quite like allegories, brave new world, and lord of the flies
Anyone got allegory recommendations | Gameofmetal
05.18.19 | Tokien was amazing as a trailblazer and trendsetter but those books have aged poorly. What a fucking slog to read. | budgie
05.18.19 | im eating a tuna fish sandwich right now
anyone want to move to alaska with me | sixdegrees
05.19.19 | still can't get into sanderson, tried to start mistborn and the stormlight archive and couldn't get through either. | hal1ax
05.19.19 | yea sanderson's writing doesn't interest me too much. although the mistborn magic system is pretty cool | Nazzadan
05.19.19 | Just started reading 6, still on the first book but I'm hooked | Jasdevi087
05.19.19 | need some love for The Edge Chronicles in here
also loved reading Mortal Engines in high school, though the titular novel and it's sequel were pretty average | Ryus
05.19.19 | eragon is very very bad | Meridiu5
05.19.19 | great list. i'd only add simmon's hyperion | CosmicPie
05.19.19 | Abercrombie | budgie
05.19.19 | guys my head hurts so bad right now | Rik VII
05.19.19 | "need some love for The Edge Chronicles in here"
Didn't expect that one to be mentioned! The big YA series of my youth, and Riddell is still one of my favorite illustrators | Pangea
05.19.19 | i really like fantasy but haven't read most of these somehow. i will keep them in mind, nice list | Azazzel
07.22.23 | cool list. found it looking for ones Caladan Brood appears on. Putting together a fantasy playlist for my readthrough of book 4 of Malazan |
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